🚨 Jakarta will no longer be Indonesia's capital city 🚨

In Indonesia, a bill has passed to replace sinking capital Jakarta on the island of Java with a new capital which is planned to be build between 2022 and 2024 on the island of Borneo.

The new capital will be called Nusantara, which translates as "archipelago".

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Details

The World Economic Forum says Jakarta is one of the fastest-sinking cities on the planet. With rising sea levels, here's a high risk that the city will be flooded eventually.

Therefore, Indonesia plans to create a new capital city in the jungle of Borneo. Initially, building works should have started in 2020, but due to the impact the coronavirus had, the project was postponed.

Other names

It's recently been announced that the new capital will be called Nusantara, which translates as "archipelago". There were around 80 proposed names with ideas like Negara Jaya ("great", "victorious" or "wealthy" country). Names were discussed with historians and linguists.

New capital -- benefits & doubts

The new capital, which is to be located between East Kalimantan, Samarinda, and the port city of Balikpapan, is to be inhabited by approximately 6-7 million people. Currently, less than 4 million inhabitants live in the entire province.

Indonesia has plans for the capital to be a low-carbon super hub that will help support pharmaceutical, health and technology sectors and promote growth beyond Java island.

The Balinese sculptor and designer of the new capital - Nyoman Nuarta - announced that the government has accepted his concept, inspired by the mythical bird Garuda in the Indonesian emblem.

However, there are voices that the new capital may pose a threat to the environment, in particular to orangutans living in Borneo. The risk of forest fires will also increase.

How will the project be funded?

The cost of building the new capital is estimated at 466 trillion rupiah, or $32 billion. Most of the funds are to be provided by private foreign investors. The project is to be managed by the heir to the throne of Abu Dhabi, Muhammad bin Zajid Al Nahajjan, as well as Korean-Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son and former Prime Minister Tony Blair.